The problem of hazardous duds and of armed, but not triggered, munitions which have been tactically dispensed are well-known. Also, the safety hazards caused by accidental expulsion of explosive munitions have existed for a considerable amount of time. As a result substantial need exists for increased battlefield safety for U.S. and friendly forces advancing across munitions-contaminated battlefields. Innovations that decrease such hazards would result in significant cost savings for the activities normally associated with costly and time consuming battlefield clean-up tasks.
Additionally, serious munition hazards associated with shipboard accidents and accidental expulsion due to fire, etc. on-board flight decks constitute another serious problem. Expeditious clean-up of armed munitions would allow rapid reclamation of battlefields and rapid reuse of vital battle stations and flight decks. There are also substantial humanitarian reasons for deactivating unexploded munitions in areas once used as battlegrounds.
One example of a munition that suffers from the problem of accidental armed deployment is the M230/M231 fuze used on the sub-munitions of the 2.75 multi-purpose sub-munition (MPSM) Rocket Warhead. This munition contains a spring loaded (stored energy) firing pin, which can cause unintentional or accidental detonation of armed dud sub-munitions, such as the M73/M75, on the battlefield or upon accidental expulsion. This is also true for many other munitions and sub-munitions having a similar configuration.
As previously indicated, these conditions present serious safety hazards and result in very costly clean-up operations to reclaim battlefield areas for safe use. This situation has been addressed by the use of self-destruct fuzes in various types of munitions, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,257, incorporated herein by reference. This patent discloses a system in which a fuze will self-destruct electrically should the primary mechanical inertial device fail to operate upon striking an intended target. The self-destruct mechanism uses an auxiliary battery, an auxiliary timing device and an auxiliary explosive charge known as an Electro-Explosive Device (EED). This system is directed to the M230/M231 fuze for the M73/M75 sub-munition, as well as other munitions, such as the 105 mm DICM, XM915/XM916 projectile and the extended range MLRS (ER-MLRS).
However, accidental explosion of sub-munitions on board U.S. Naval Ships and Air Force flight decks or other installations present potentially more serious safety hazards to personnel, equipment and expensive weapon systems. Automatic detonation of a munition is not a viable option under such conditions. A self neutralizing (SN) feature which can easily be incorporated by a modification to the existing fuzes, such as those of the M230/M231 munitions could solve this problem. Unfortunately, simple modifications that would render armed munitions harmless are not addressed in the conventional art.